The eyes have it
Happy Monday---here in my neck of the woods, we're about to experience a return to the harsh and humid conditions that we momentarily left behind last week. Oh, boy.
I don't think I've ever mentioned it here, but I've worn glasses since 1987. My mom wore glasses from the time I could remember, and my dad did, too, although he only had one prescription pair, relying on "cheaters," or simple reading glasses that one can buy at a drug store. And my older brother started wearing glasses in high school.
I was in my late twenties when I found that I needed corrective lenses, largely because I started getting headaches. And because I hate to have anything in my eye, like dust or a speck or other foreign materials, I've never considered contact lenses.
I also have never been interested in surgery to correct my vision (which I believe you would classify as "presbyopic," since I wear progressive lenses), as I've heard and read of too many instances where people didn't have a good outcome, or still needed reading glasses.
So I've had a love-hate relationship with glasses for quite some time. Same goes for providers of eyeglasses.
My very first pair of glasses was a metal frame with the lower half of each lens being rimless, which kept the look and weight of the glasses light in weight. I only had a slight correction back then, but the glasses fit me well and were reasonably comfortable. Graduated into a slightly larger variation of the same shape and then to a fuller frame in more of an aviator shape.
Fashion then drove eyeglass size downward and I bought a relatively small frame, which was a big change for my vision and in what I looked like to everyone else. That was followed by another smallish frame, then a little larger, then completely rimless and so on.
Light sensitivity led me to buy separated prescription sunglasses a couple of times, then I began buying glasses that either came with or accommodated a clip-on sunglass (far better than the old flip-up Polaroids my dad used to have around). Eventually I began to buy the type of lenses that darken when one is outside and I've stayed with that ever since.
Anyway, back to the style of glasses I've worn. Somewhere around 2013 I was wearing a pair of half-rimless metal frames (in a gunmetal color, which is not quite gold but not quite brown either) but was a little bored with them and wanted something drastically different with my next frame. Went to my preferred optician, who has been my more or less constant provider all of these years, and we looked at a lot of different options, but finally found one made by an English company called Tom Davies with a very traditional shape, in a brown tortoise-like finish, but with the lower half of the frame rimless. These also have the nose pads that are customary on a pair of metal frames, for a better fit.
I took the plunge (at considerable expense) but soon learned that these required a different level of care and maintenance than I was used to with my metal frames. The ear pieces cracked and got misshapen easily and after multiple repairs, the dealer finally contacted the manufacturer and invoked their three-year (!) warranty. The manufacturer also agreed to make up a new frame to my specific measurements, which was astounding, and I'm wearing them right now, having just put another set of lenses in them, and having recently invested in a replacement arm.
I've had two other pairs of glasses since (one became a pair of prescription sunglasses due to an ordering error by the optician) and the other was purchased from Warby Parker and are perfectly fine, but these are the ones I still really like, because the look pretty sharp and THEY FIT.
Let me offer a word about Warby Parker, since they're a pretty nontraditional seller of glasses. I was kind of intrigued by their business model of selling glasses online, but when they opened a store here in our area I decided to try them, and spent a little bonus money on a pair of glasses there. The lenses were great, but I've had difficulty getting these to fit properly, mostly due to my large head. So if you think you might be interested in trying their glasses, be aware that fit is very important, even if you love how the glasses look. Our local Warby store has a number of frames on display and their sales staff is pretty knowledgeable.
Anyway, I'm happy to have these on this morning and in top condition. Here's hoping you see what's coming, too!
I don't think I've ever mentioned it here, but I've worn glasses since 1987. My mom wore glasses from the time I could remember, and my dad did, too, although he only had one prescription pair, relying on "cheaters," or simple reading glasses that one can buy at a drug store. And my older brother started wearing glasses in high school.
I was in my late twenties when I found that I needed corrective lenses, largely because I started getting headaches. And because I hate to have anything in my eye, like dust or a speck or other foreign materials, I've never considered contact lenses.
I also have never been interested in surgery to correct my vision (which I believe you would classify as "presbyopic," since I wear progressive lenses), as I've heard and read of too many instances where people didn't have a good outcome, or still needed reading glasses.
So I've had a love-hate relationship with glasses for quite some time. Same goes for providers of eyeglasses.
My very first pair of glasses was a metal frame with the lower half of each lens being rimless, which kept the look and weight of the glasses light in weight. I only had a slight correction back then, but the glasses fit me well and were reasonably comfortable. Graduated into a slightly larger variation of the same shape and then to a fuller frame in more of an aviator shape.
Fashion then drove eyeglass size downward and I bought a relatively small frame, which was a big change for my vision and in what I looked like to everyone else. That was followed by another smallish frame, then a little larger, then completely rimless and so on.
Light sensitivity led me to buy separated prescription sunglasses a couple of times, then I began buying glasses that either came with or accommodated a clip-on sunglass (far better than the old flip-up Polaroids my dad used to have around). Eventually I began to buy the type of lenses that darken when one is outside and I've stayed with that ever since.
Anyway, back to the style of glasses I've worn. Somewhere around 2013 I was wearing a pair of half-rimless metal frames (in a gunmetal color, which is not quite gold but not quite brown either) but was a little bored with them and wanted something drastically different with my next frame. Went to my preferred optician, who has been my more or less constant provider all of these years, and we looked at a lot of different options, but finally found one made by an English company called Tom Davies with a very traditional shape, in a brown tortoise-like finish, but with the lower half of the frame rimless. These also have the nose pads that are customary on a pair of metal frames, for a better fit.
I took the plunge (at considerable expense) but soon learned that these required a different level of care and maintenance than I was used to with my metal frames. The ear pieces cracked and got misshapen easily and after multiple repairs, the dealer finally contacted the manufacturer and invoked their three-year (!) warranty. The manufacturer also agreed to make up a new frame to my specific measurements, which was astounding, and I'm wearing them right now, having just put another set of lenses in them, and having recently invested in a replacement arm.
I've had two other pairs of glasses since (one became a pair of prescription sunglasses due to an ordering error by the optician) and the other was purchased from Warby Parker and are perfectly fine, but these are the ones I still really like, because the look pretty sharp and THEY FIT.
Let me offer a word about Warby Parker, since they're a pretty nontraditional seller of glasses. I was kind of intrigued by their business model of selling glasses online, but when they opened a store here in our area I decided to try them, and spent a little bonus money on a pair of glasses there. The lenses were great, but I've had difficulty getting these to fit properly, mostly due to my large head. So if you think you might be interested in trying their glasses, be aware that fit is very important, even if you love how the glasses look. Our local Warby store has a number of frames on display and their sales staff is pretty knowledgeable.
Anyway, I'm happy to have these on this morning and in top condition. Here's hoping you see what's coming, too!
Comments
Post a Comment